An official website of the United States government.
Rural communities face unique housing challenges from environmental agents, geographic isolation, underinvestment, lack of technical services, and high costs. Rural citizens, and the programs serving them, rely on accurate and current information to best address their needs. Find available federal- and state-government informational resources for rural housing here.
Information and Financial Resources
Housing Repair Resources
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HUD Rural Gateway [hud.gov]
HUD's clearinghouse of rural housing and development information.
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Repairing and Improving a Home [usa.gov]
Find help with home repairs and modifications. Learn about the free Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income households to improve the energy efficiency of homes.
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Single Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants [rd.usda.gov]
Provides "loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes or grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards."
Search Library Resources
USDA Employees
The National Agricultural Library (NAL) provides a wide range of electronic resources to authorized USDA employees via DigiTop. You can search several resources at once using NAL's SEARCH tool, Navigator or Google Scholar. Searching databases individually can yield more manageable results. NAL librarians are happy to help you with your searches. You will also find tips for using advanced search techniques on our How to Search page. If you find items that aren't available in full-text, reach out to our document delivery staff to request it.
These DigiTop resources should be the most useful when searching for rural housing information :
Business Source Premier
CAB Abstracts
EconPapers
Environment Complete
GeoBase and GeoRef
JSTOR Life Sciences Archive
Natural Science Collection
Scopus
Non-USDA staff
The National Agricultural Library (NAL) provides public access to USDA created electronic resources via our SEARCH tool. The default search box searches our catalog and articles database (AGRICOLA), PubAg, and the NAL Digital Collections. Links at the top of the SEARCH page allow you to search each of those resources individually. You will find tips on using advanced search techniques on our How to Search page.
Many databases NAL uses are also available through public and university libraries. You might also try Google Scholar. Your local librarian can help you develop the most effective Internet searches and obtain full text articles.
Historical Information
Housing in Rural America
This digital exhibit features material from the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Special Collections, Digital Collections, and General Collection. It provides a snapshot of housing types, plans, programs, policies, and trends in rural America.